Focus as emphasis: Conceptual and performance implications for hospitals

Focus in hospitals has been heralded as the next frontier in improving its efficiency and efficacy (Herzlinger, 2004). However, there is scarce empirical work examining its effects in this setting. Focus in hospitals can take several different forms, ranging from standalone specialty centers to a hospital that chooses to emphasize in some operational way a particular specialty while still offering a full range of services. Although standalone facilities can be found in many locations, the vast majority of hospitals must follow the latter route to achieve focus. Current conceptualizations and measures of focus struggle to capture this construct in a way that does not assume a narrowing of range of offerings. In contrast to the traditional view of focus as narrowing, in this paper, we address the perspective of focus as emphasis. We select cardiology as the specialty and use secondary data for more than 264,000 patients in New York State to examine the relationship between focus as emphasis and hospital cost performance. Our results support the notion that such focus is associated with lower costs. Moreover, our results also show that focus in hospitals can be operationalized as a disproportionate emphasis on one line of service, without necessarily narrowing the overall range of services provided.     

ECONOMETRICS FOR GRUMBLERS: A NEW LOOK AT THE LITERATURE ON CROSS‐COUNTRY GROWTH EMPIRICS

Abstract Since the seminal contribution of N. Gregory Mankiw, David Romer and David N. Weil in 1992 the growth empirics literature has used increasingly sophisticated methods to select relevant growth determinants in estimating cross‐section growth regressions. The vast majority of empirical approaches, however, limit cross‐country heterogeneity in production technology to the specification of total factor productivity, the ‘measure of our ignorance’. In this survey, we present two general empirical frameworks for cross‐country growth and productivity analysis and demonstrate that they encompass the various approaches in the growth empirics literature of the past two decades. We then develop our central argument, that cross‐country heterogeneity in the impact of observables and unobservables on output as well as the time‐series properties of the data are important for reliable empirical analysis.     

寿命延长与延迟退休：国际比较与我国实证

基于国际比较的视角,探讨人口寿命延长与延迟退休之间的机制关系,分析国际上人口寿命延长与延迟退休的实践。通过对我国人口寿命延长趋势的研究,在一定的精算假设下,测算延迟退休对我国养老金支付压力的影响,并分析经济、制度等因素变动对测算结果的敏感性。结论表明,我国人口寿命延长趋势显著,延迟退休能够有效缓解老金支付压力,但在不同的性别之间有所差异。经济、制度等因素与延迟退休之间具有一定的替代效应,尽管延迟退休是未来我国应对人口寿命延长的必然选择,但目前建立二者的调整机制条件尚未成熟。     

The impact of bullwhip on supply chains: Performance pathways,control mechanisms,and managerial levers

Even though few empirical studies have tried to actually explicate the relationship between the bullwhip effect and performance of the supplier firm, there exists a common perception for over 30 years among both practitioners and academics that the bullwhip effect naturally results in decreased firm profitability. Anecdotal evidence further suggests that this decline in profitability arises from a decline in operational performance. However, the results of our study, which empirically examines the bullwhip effect across supply chain partners through an analysis of 383 actual customer base-supplier dyads, challenge this commonly held position by suggesting that while traditional bullwhip often yields reduced ROA, it ultimately has no relationship with the firm's operating margin. Additionally, our results also call into question whether or not production coordination between customers and suppliers can minimize the need for inventory and capacity buffers, which are the two commonly utilized methods for battling the bullwhip effect. Thus the relationship between bullwhip and firm performance is far more nuanced and complicated than previously believed. We also show how the managerial bullwhip levers of coordinating production across supply chain partners, or deploying inventory and capacity buffer control mechanisms, can help maximize a firm's performance along different dimensions.     

大股东掏空与支持:来自中国上市公司的实证检验

国内外现有关于大股东掏空的研究,或孤立研究掏空问题,或虽结合支持研究但其背景依据不适合中国。为此,笔者针对中国上市公司广泛存在的融资限制,借鉴性引入投资对现金流敏感度分析思路,对我国上市公司控股大股东的掏空和支持行为进行了实证检验,研究结果提供了我国上市公司控股大股东掏空和支持行为的经验证据,同时也验证了Friedman等(2003)关于掏空和支持是对称的观点。     

基于二元经济结构视角下的中国城乡收入差距

中国城乡收入差距扩大的趋势令人担忧。二元经济结构是造成城乡收入差距的较为突出的因素。本文借助西方发展经济学的理论和我国二元经济结构的实际,从理论和实证的角度分析我国二元经济结构对我国城乡收入差距的影响,本文的分析对建设社会主义新农村和建设和谐社会有一定的启示。     

Shrinkage estimators of time series seasonal factors and their effect on forecasting accuracy

This paper shows that forecasting accuracy can be improved through better estimation of seasonal factors under conditions for which relatively simple methods are preferred, such as relatively few historical data, noisy data, and/or a large number of series to be forecasted. In such situations, the preferred method of seasonal adjustment is often ratio-to-moving-averages (classical) decomposition. This paper proposes two shrinkage estimators to improve the accuracy of classical decomposition seasonal factors. In a simulation study, both of the proposed estimators provided consistently greater accuracy than classical decomposition, with the improvement sometimes being dramatic. The performances of the two estimators depended on characteristics of the series, and guidelines were developed for choosing one of them under a given set of conditions. For a set of monthly, M-competition series, greater forecasting accuracy was achieved when either of the proposed methods was used for seasonal adjustment rather than classical decomposition, and the greatest accuracy was achieved by following the guidelines for choosing a method.     

Effective strategies for internal outsourcing and offshoring of business services: An empirical investigation

The growing pressure to reduce costs and improve efficiency induces many organizations to undertake shared services initiatives. This consolidation and streamlining of common business functions is also known as insourcing, in-house services, business services, or staff services. While adoption of a shared service structure is viewed by many as an appropriate strategy to pursue, most companies still struggle to devise optimal strategies and to generate adequate returns on investments for their projects, because none of the approaches that are commonly adopted is recognized as universally effective.     

Unlocking the business outsourcing process model

Outsourcing has emerged as a prevalent business practice that is having a transformational impact on how many organizations manage their global supply chains. Despite this prominence, anecdotal reports from multiple reputable organizations suggest that many businesses fail to realize the benefits anticipated from their outsourcing initiatives. Motivated by these observations, this study investigates those management practices during the outsourcing process that are key drivers of outsourcing performance. Specifically, detailed data from 198 sourcing executives and managers responsible for outsourcing initiatives are used to investigate the influence that strategic evaluation, contractual completeness, and relationship management practices have on achieving projected outsourcing results. The results offer strong empirical evidence that outsourcing performance is significantly influenced by extensive strategic evaluation and proactive relationship management practices. Moreover, the impact strategic evaluation has on outsourcing performance is not direct, but rather is partially mediated by the relationship between the parties. Finally, the results show that contractual completeness does not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful outsourcing efforts, and can be considered qualifying activity.     

基于现金流测量标准的财务预警实证研究

本文突破以传统绩效类指标为预警指标的模式,选取现金流指标并采用判别分析法,对财务危机发生前一年和前两年的制造行业样本数据进行实证研究,建立了以现金流指标为测量标准、针对具体行业的中长期财务预警模型。模型能够从现金流角度判断企业是否存在财务困境,具有较好的预警作用。